Death of Emile Idée: Tour de France veteran dies at the age of 104

Emile Idée, the oldest survivor of the first post-war Tour, raced in 1947, passed away this Monday, December 30, 2024 at the age of 104.

“Émile Idée, the oldest stage winner of the Tour de France, has just left us at the age of 104. He was also the professional French Champion in 1942 and 1947. A charming character! My condolences to his family”, reacted on X David Lappartient, president of the International Cycling Union (UCI).

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Champion in 1942

Born in Nouvion-le-Comte in the Aisne, this high-flying puncher had his career troubled at the beginning by the world conflict. But he was able to become French champion in 1942, in Lyon, in the so-called free zone, and win a second national title five years later.

For the record, the race had been rerun because the first winner, Paul Néri, had not yet obtained his naturalization.

End of career in 1951

In the Tour de France that he raced three times, Emile Idée won a stage, in Nîmes, during his third participation (1949). Second in the GP des Nations in 1946 and 1947, each time behind the “campionissimo” Fausto Coppi, “the king of Chevreuse” ended his career at the end of 1951.

The previous year, his brother-in-law Camille Danguillaume had died on the Montlhéry circuit, during the French championship. His grandson by marriage (his granddaughter's husband) made a name for himself in a completely different sport: harness racing. Driver Jean-Michel Bazire won the Prix d'Amérique five times.